January 6, 191 6] 



NATURE 



505 



effected in Germany. He attributed this early 

 success of the German competitors to three causes 

 — the cultivation of organic chemistry, the recog- 

 nition of the value of scientific training, and the 

 adverse influence of the English law of patents. 



From this time onwards the lecturers assume 

 the part of chemical Cassandras, foretelling to un- 

 heeding ears the decline of the British coal-tar 

 colour industry. In 1885 the discoverer of mauve 

 dealt with the matter, alleging that the patent laws, 

 the fiscal policy of Great Britain, and the disin- 

 clination of British manufacturers to employ well- 

 trained chemists were causes militating against 

 the commercial success of the industry. 



Prof. Meldola, in discussing the scientific de- 

 velopment of the industry up to the year 1886, 

 advised the English manufacturer "to look after 

 the science and leave the technique to take care 

 of itself." . 



The effect of scientific research on the cost of 

 the dyes was strikingly brought out in the Hof- 

 mann Memorial Lecture delivered in 1896, when 

 it was stated that magenta, which was formerly 

 worth three guineas an ounce, could then be 

 bought at 2s. gd. per pound. An instructive sum- 

 mary of the relative progress of the industry in 

 England and Germany during the period 1886-igoo 

 was given by Prof. Green in a paper to the British 

 Association in 1901. In this publication the 

 author denounced in scathing terms the English 

 manufacturer who "considered that a knowledge 

 of the benzol market was of greater importance 

 than a knowledge of the benzol theory," and the 

 conclusion was drawn that " it is not so much the 

 education of our chemists which is at fault as the 

 scientific education of the public as a whole." 



The indigo crisis arose in 1901, when it was 

 realised that the problem of the artificial pro- 

 duction of indigotin had been successfully solved. 

 The history of this wonderful achievement, in- 

 volving many years of intellectual labour and 

 organised scientific team-work, was narrated by 

 Dr. Brunck at the opening of the Hofmann House 

 in Berlin in 1900. A translation of his lecture 

 is given almost in extenso. 



A portion of the Presidential Address to the 

 British Association in 1902 is devoted to the topic 

 of "applied chemistry, English and foreign." 

 Read in the light of recent events. Sir James 

 Dewar's words have a knell of prophecy fulfilled. 

 "To my mind, the really appalling thing is not 

 that the Germans have seized this or the other 

 industry, or even that they may have seized upon 

 a dozen industries. It is that the German popu- 

 lation has reached a point of general training and 

 specialised equipment which it will take us two 

 generations of hard and intelligently-directed 

 NO. 2410, VOL. 96] 



educational work to attain. It is that Germany 

 possesses a national weapon of precision which 

 must give her an enormous initial advantage in 

 any and every contest depending upon disciplined 

 and methodised intellect." 



In 1905 Prof. Meldola disposed of the plea that 

 the colour industry declined in England for want 

 of duty-free spirit. Incidentally he also demon- 

 strated the inaccuracy of the view sometimes ex- 

 pressed that the colour manufacture was stolen 

 from us by our foreign competitors. The cause 

 of our decadence is mainly the discovery of new 

 colouring matters by foreign chemists. Prof. 

 Meldola 's reference to the lot of the few research 

 chemists in any English works will appeal very 

 forcibly to those who have undergone this ordeal. 

 "We were but a handful of light skirmishers 

 against an army of trained legionaries." 



Of the lectures and addresses delivered during 

 the war period one may select Lord Moulton's 

 discourse on the manufacture of aniline dyes in 

 England. This discourse deals with the prevail- 

 ing shortage of dyes, the cause of German 

 supremacy in their manufacture, and the means 

 to be adopted to establish a British dye industry. 

 The formation of a large national company is ad- 

 vocated, a company which is to be co-operative 

 between the producer and consumer. 



The compiler of this volume contributes two 

 articles to this discussion of the character of the 

 new company, and insists that "it is foredoomed 

 to failure unless a scientific rather than a purely 

 commercial spirit permeates the management." 

 Similar views are expressed by Prof. Frankland 

 in a very illuminating synopsis of the chemical 

 industries of Germany. " If the proposed under- 

 taking is to succeed, real chemists must be on 

 the directorate, and in a sufficient proportion to 

 give effect to their views." After recounting the 

 history of German chemical industry and illustrat- 

 ing the magnitude of the chief branches of this 

 trade, the lecturer emphasises the difficulties 

 attending the rehabilitation of chemical industries 

 in this country owing to the attitude of the in- 

 fluential classes of the population towards science 

 in general and towards chemical science in par- 

 ticular. 



The two concluding chapters are the Presi- 

 dential Addresses for 191 5 to the Institute of 

 Chemistry and t6 the Chemical Society. In the 

 former of these addresses Prof. Meldola, after 

 referring to the warnings he uttered thirty years 

 ago, pleads for scientific guidance and direct expert 

 assistance in the management of our chemical fac- 

 tories. In the latter address Prof. W. H. Perkin, 

 in discussing the possibility of recovering some of 

 the lost chemical industries, urges a close alliance 



